Embodiments of the invention relate generally to telecommunications services, and more particularly, to methods, systems, and storage mediums for providing a self-provisioning telephony service.
As society becomes more mobile, more service industries are attempting to cater to the changing needs associated with individuals who are geographically displaced from their friends, family, and others but wish to remain ‘connected.’ Those who travel extensively to variable locations have a particularly difficult time maintaining communications with family and friends back home. College students are another example of consumers who may find themselves disconnected from family and friends at home due to the costs and inconveniences of existing telecommunications services. Telephones are arguably the most popular means by which these travelers stay in communication with their loved ones. In addition, as the population grows older and ages, parents on fixed incomes may become more concerned with costs of calling their children. Finally, a certain segment of work-at-home residential customers may find it beneficial to provide a toll free number to prospective customers calling their combined home and business telephone number. Unfortunately, however, there are an abundance of long-distance carriers, each with their own billing policies and related time/cost restrictions that can create a burden on the calling individual, and perhaps, have a negative impact on how and when a caller will ‘phone home’.
What is needed, therefore, is a way to provide consumers with a simple, convenient, and reliable way of meeting their communications needs.